<p>I am a prospective student thinking of applying early to NU but I am a little nervous about the academic environment.</p>
<p>Does the quarter system make it hard to succeed?
Do people have a hard time keeping up with the curriculum?
Are people constantly studying?
Does it hinder the social life?
Does it bother students to leave and return home later than other schools?</p>
<p>No- you do more in less time, but you have fewer classes (generally 4, as opposed to 5-6 for semester system)
??- this question can be asked of any school. This varies by person clearly.
Ha- premed students are, but no people don't study all the time at all.
No this isn't UChicago- I live in party dorm seems like ppl go out every day, ppl are social and there are plenty o parties
Lol EVERYONE i knew left early while i stayed in my home town, had a 4 month summer after senior year... wow lol. Im only freshman, so i dont know about late summer, but wtvr. Ull be able to get into the action thats already started when u get home. gl deciding</p>
<ol>
<li>quarters won't stop you from succeeding, its just a faster pace</li>
<li>you just need to keep up with things, nu profs won't follow you and try to make sure you're on top of things, esp since hw is optional in a lot of classes</li>
<li>yes people are studying but</li>
<li>you'll be in a lot of classes with peopel you know so its not that bad, you study together. and even if they're not in the same classes being a study environment with friends is relaxing</li>
<li>can't tell you much about the last one, its really a matter of personal preference</li>
</ol>
<p>Does the quarter system make it hard to succeed? </p>
<p>-quarters are not bad at all, actually at times are more managable, you don't have to keep lots of information memorized for long periods of time and it helps you feel like you are getting stuff done/making progress through the year; you don't worry for long periods of time about your grades like you do at semester schools (i know, i transferred from one). Instant gratification.</p>
<p>Do people have a hard time keeping up with the curriculum?</p>
<p>-You only take four classes at a time so it's very managable, much more so than at a semester school come midterm/final time when you're taking five or six classes. Again, i would know, i transferred from a semester school.</p>
<p>Are people constantly studying?</p>
<p>-People study alot, yes, but also go out 4 nights a week</p>
<p>Does it hinder the social life?</p>
<p>-See above</p>
<p>Does it bother students to leave and return home later than other schools?</p>
<p>-It was nice to be able to stay a little later in the summer, it made leaving for school alot easier as you aren't leaving in the middle of when everyone's home, you kind of have time for everyone else to leave, reflect, and then go. Late finish is bad for jobs but not for internships, which it calibrates pretty well with.</p>
<p>My classes are pretty intense, but I like it here so far.</p>
<p>The classes are certainly rigorous and the quarter system can move fast, but people here tend to have a pretty good sense of balance (except for engineers, of course, but I think that's a universal phenomenon. ;) ) People work very hard and you may have to spend the occational Friday night in the library, but kids also take the time to relax/have fun/party/etc. There will be stressful times, but all in all, it's a great place to work hard and play hard. I've never regretted applying ED.</p>
<p>1/2. I personally prefer the quarter system. I like the fast pace, and while midterms do seem to be coming at you every other week, it really is, as everyone above has said, very managable. As long as you keep up on your reading, you won't be behind and managing everything else will be much easier. Of course, it does vary from major. I'm an RTVF major, plus all my courses this quarter are in the humanities/social sciences, so I just have a lot of reading/papers, which for me is easy to keep on top of. My friends who are in the math/sciences however tend to have tons of labs/problem sets to do every night.
3. No. Everyone does make sacrifices once in a while and will stay in to get work down, but there is a good balance of work and play.
4. Like above, no. I go out at least 4 days a week and I'm doing pretty well for my first quarter.
5. This summer (before my freshman year) it really bothered me, since I was left with nothing to do and no one around the last few weeks before school. I think that's less of an issue as you get older, though. If you get in, I'd reccomend a pre-NSW program like Pwild or catalyst.</p>